I haven’t read a lot of Clark Howard’s books, but I am greatly enjoying this one. If your favorite part of reading personal finance blogs is learning about other people’s journeys, you will like this book, which shares personal stories on subjects such as travel, retirement, cars, technology, and living below your means. Each story has Clark’s tips at the end.

What I respect about Clark is that this book features people that have a really wide variety of perspectives on money, some of which would be outright dismissed by other personal finance personalities: people who own every Apple product known to man, people who buy gold, people who lease cars, people with no cars. While my beloved Dave Ramsey would go nuts on someone leasing a car, Clark gives a balanced approach with facts about leasing which include the few scenarios where leasing may be acceptable.

I most related to the chapter “El Cheapo Man and Wife: Living Below Their Means Gives Matt and Jamie the Freedom to Enjoy Small Splurges.” They didn’t seem that cheap to me… which I guess I why I related to them!

I’m pleased to see you are using your local library instead of buying everything you want to read on Amazon. Personally, I’m still trying to get rid of several hundred well-loved editions from my 2-foot x 2-foot garret. I try very hard Not to buy any more books.

The library is my favorite charity. I would rather donate cash to them than maintain a bunch of books here… the only exceptions being some children’s books. I am grateful to live in a city with a well-stocked library system.